He occupied a unique position amongst the English architects of the latter half of the 19th century, his long mastership of the architectural school at the Royal Academy of Arts having given him the opportunity of moulding and shaping the minds of more than a generation of students.
Phené Spiers was educated in the engineering department of King's College London, and proceeded thence to the atelier of Charles-Auguste Questel at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris, for upwards of three years, a method of study rare for an architectural student in those days.
His work of about this period included Lord Monkswell's house, Chelsea, and the home of John Corbett which is now known as Chateau Impney in Droitwich Spa.
Phene Spiers travelled in France, Spain, Egypt, Syria and the East, and besides his record of more purely architectural data, he made many water-colour sketches showing much talent and facility.
The position to which his erudition and ability entitled him was fully recognized in other countries as well as his own, as is shown by his election to membership of many foreign societies in France, Spain and America.